A Conclave of Time
Gallopfrey: 2000 Years Ago.
The call had gone out across all of time and space. To the past, present, and future, throughout the universe and beyond it rang out across the entirety of creation. Many would hear it and dismiss it as background noise, the sound of a bird singing or a stone falling. Others would pick up on its subtleties but would never understand what they had heard; to them it could have been the most beautiful and terrifying sound in the world. A sound that would inspire some to greatness while dooming others to madness. But to those few who understood, to those who could see past the overlying cacophony of noise it meant only one thing.
The Time Colts were gathering.
From across the galaxy they came, each converging on single point in time and space. Some would be early and have to wait while others would arrive on time and ready to begin.
Only one would be late and they could not start until he was present.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Nestled in the valley between the mountains of Solice and Solitude, the Citadel of the Time Colts was a magnificent sight.
A gigantic dome of flawless crystal protected it from the snow that whirled around in the winds of the valley. Inside the spires of multiple buildings towered over one another in a conical fashion, thousands of cathedrals of flawless bronze shone in the sunlight as the dome refracting it into a spectrum of colour. At its centre a single tower speared its way through the dome into the sky, at its tip was a shimmering rainbow of light that seemed to pierce the heavens themselves.
Ordinarily the streets would have been full of Time Colts and their retainers going about their business. The shops would have been open, the sellers hawking their wares to anypony that trotted by in an effort to outdo each other on the best price. The restaurants and cafes would have been hosting thousands of guests; each gossiping about the next greatest thing to come out of Gallopfreys famed Time Academy.
Today however the shops and cafes were closed, the streets were silent and anypony on them was galloping as fast as they could to one building in particular. That is if they managed to navigate the rather unusual obstacle course that had appeared in the streets.
Time Colt Conclaves were very rare, with most day to day decisions were handled by Parliament or the Lord President himself if it was important enough. When a full Conclave was called thousands of Time Colts would be in attendance, but a consequence of their rarity was that no one had proposed they extend the parking area around the central spire.
It also didn’t help that each Time Colt had varying tastes in their TARDIS. The more professional amongst them simply dropped their time machines disguise upon arrival, leaving them as simple silver booths that looked only big enough for one pony to stand in.
The vast majority of them however preferred to keep their disguises on so they could identify them, this resulted in the streets being filled with all manner of objects and vehicles.
There were simple ones such as cupboards, carriages, large clocks and even an old pipe organ. Then there were those with a bit more ‘’whimsy’’, a steam train, a buffalo tepee, an airship and a pegasus’s cloud home. Finally there were those that were clearly conceived by either madponies or during a drunken bet, a giant glowing crystal, a treadmill with electrodes on the side, a silver ponyless carriage with strange machines attached to the back, one was even a music stage with the instruments set up for the headline act (Wyld Stallions if the posters were to be believed).
Yet in amongst this mish mash of machines there was just enough space for one more. It arrived with the groaning and creaking of ages as it gently pushed aside the walls of the time vortex and re-joined reality.
Slotting neatly into a perfect rectangle of space that others had somehow avoided, the blue police box settled into silence. The doors opened with a squeak as a lone stallion emerged.
His coat was a pale blue colour while his mane was a mass of brown curls; his cutie mark was an hourglass, representing his talent of time. He wore a white shirt and a grey waistcoat with a grey cravat around his neck. Reaching back into the box he produced a black suit jacket from inside before setting off.
He had barely made it a few steps when he was pulled around a corner and into a crushing bear hug.
‘’Ha harr! I knew ye would come Doctor me old sea dog!’’
‘’Happy to see you too my dear Corsair’’ wheezed The Doctor as he struggled against the affectionate death grip. ‘’But if you would be so kind as to let go of me before I suffocate it would be appreciated.’’
‘’Arr, but can ya blame me Doctor? I haven’t seen ye for a dogs age.’’
Released from his friends grasp, The Doctor adjusted his cravat as he took in the other Time Colts appearance.
The Corsair was a large, muscle bound stallion with a lime green coat and black mane done into dreadlocks. He had an active interest in pirates and nearly everything about him reflected this, around his head was a red and white striped bandanna while a loose fitting shirt hung about his chest. A black patch covered his left eye and strapped across his body was a selection of swords, knives and flintlock pistols. Much like The Doctor, his cutie mark depicted an hourglass, except he’d had a serpent tattooed around it in a spiral.
The Doctor also noted that his clothes were charred and slightly smoking.
‘’Couldn’t you have least cleaned yourself up? This is a rather important meeting after all, I mean good heavens haven’t you heard of soap?’’
‘’Course I’ve heard o soap Doctor, I eats a bar a week whether I needs it or not. Had even scrubbed me clothes but I ran into some trouble on the way over. ’’
The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
‘’Would that be the same trouble that followed you after you had an affair with the Seapony Queen? The same trouble that left you at the bottom of the sea in a steel coffin?’’
‘’Aye that be the one.’’
The Doctor rubbed his temples in frustration.
‘’You’re lucky I found you, you know that? If you would just stop womanising you might actually be able to not get into trouble in the first place.’’
‘’Maybe, but I got needs matey. These women aren’t satisfied by their lot and I just happen to need what they want, so we come to a mutual understanding.’’ He said with a cheeky grin.
‘’You do realise that nearly every time we meet it’s because you managed to get into trouble with some married ruler and you need me to bail you out YET AGAIN! .’’
Taking a few deep breaths, The Doctor composed himself.
‘’Honestly I don’t know why I put up with you sometimes.’’
‘’Because your life would be boring without me.’’ Replied The Corsair with a wink.
With an annoyed groan, The Doctor began rapidly trotting towards the citadels central spire. The Corsair trotted alongside him, chatting away in what was a very one sided conversation.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The present
‘’Hold on a second.’’ Interrupted Derpy. ‘’You’re the nicest, most sociable stallion I’ve ever met. Why were you such a jerk to this guy?’’
The Doctor sighed.
‘’It has to do with a Time Colts ability to regenerate. I have lived over twelve thousand years and in that time I have been no less than nine different stallions.’’
‘’You’ve explained this to me before.’’ Replied Derpy ‘’but you never said it affected your personality.’’
‘’To be honest it’s not something I like to talk about. Whenever a Time Colt regenerates the magic in our body burns right into our brains, which can make us behave erratically for a while. This is because our brain has effectively been rewired. Some core personality traits remain consistent and our memories are unaffected, but once our behaviour stabilises we are practically a completely different pony.’’
‘’So what you’re saying is that if you regenerate...’’
He gave her a sad smile.
‘’Then the pony you know now might as well be dead.’’
There was silence as this revelation sank in.
‘’But we’re getting off topic.’’ said The Doctor. ‘’As I was saying, The Corsair and I were approaching the central spire...
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Gallopfrey
The two Time Colts now stood before the spires gigantic double doors. The Doctor was about to knock when they opened with a slow, resounding creak from their hinges to reveal three figures.
The first two were a set of bronze automation ponies, their clockwork mechanisms ticking away like a pair of grandfather clocks, but the third figure interested the Doctor the most.
The stallion before them had a grey coat with a short cut mane and tail and a short beard around his muzzle. He was wearing a set of formal crimson robes with gold trim and wore a superior expression on his face.
‘’My Lord Doctor’’ he greeted icily.
‘’My Lord Master’’ replied The Doctor with the same degree of warmth.
‘’You’re late’’ said The Master. ‘’But now that you are here we can finally start, if you would please follow me.’’
He turned on his hooves and strode through the doors, the two automatons never leaving his side.
‘’I thought he was still in prison?’’ whispered The Doctor. ‘’I should know, I’m the one that put him there.’’
‘’That ye did Doctor, but he’s on parole for good behaviour and even if he deserves a good keel haul, the terms mean he can legally attend this meeting.’’
‘’Well, no good can come from that.’’
Quietly following The Master and his guards, they eventually emerged into the spires grand hall. The hall had been constructed with magic similar to that which made up their TARDIS technology; this made it possible to house the thousands who would be attending the conclave. Seats carpeted the floor, while galleries rose upwards until they were lost from sight; several platforms even hovered around the hall to pick up the stragglers.
In the centre of the room hovered a great sphere that appeared to be made of liquid mercury, its surface ripped and shifted every few moments as shapes and images briefly formed before sinking back below the surface.
Seated behind a raised table of white marble facing the hall were the twelve High Lords of Gallopfrey, those whose knowledge and experience made them invaluable to their entire civilisation. Taking the prime seat on the table was a pony in an ornate, golden crested helmet, which completely enclosed his face. He was resting one hoof on the table, revealing a gauntlet that crackled and spat with barely contained power.
Gesturing to a pair of vacant seats, the Master took his leave while The Doctor and Corsair waited for everything to begin.
Standing up, the helmeted stallion raised his armoured hoof and the chamber fell silent. Circling around the council table he strode towards the front of the stage, where a plinth rose up for him to stand on. Above him the sphere shifted and bubbled until a likeness of his metal helmet took shape.
‘’I Omega, call this conclave of Time Colts to order!’’ His voice, magically projected around the chamber, sounded beautiful and cold like the endless depths of space.
‘’Under the Rules of Time set down by the very first Council, this conclave has been called by our Lord President to discuss a pressing issue that he believes could affect the very fabric of time itself.’’
The Doctor felt himself grow uneasy as Omega’s gaze lingered on him; clearly he didn’t think this was a pressing issue. But he wouldn’t have had to pull rank if they had listened to him in the first place.
Waving his gauntleted hoof towards the sphere Omegas image disappeared and was replaced with several others; green fields that warped into a checkerboard, trees that suddenly sprang to life and ran away, chocolate rain from cotton candy clouds, and finally scenes of ponies being used as playthings. Some were turned into living pins for a giant bowling alley, others found themselves turned into ducks at a shooting gallery, and these were just the lucky ones. The orb shifted and displayed ponies whose bodies and personalities had been warped and twisted into cruel parodies of themselves while overshadowing it all was a serpentine form, giggling and laughing like a spoiled child.
‘’As many of you are aware the being known as Discord has ruled the mortals since he defeated the three pony tribes of Equis over a thousand years ago. It is the belief of our Lord President that his chaos has stretched the mortals to breaking point and that soon he will look for other ways to amuse himself, which could pose a threat to the very fabric of time. He believes that we must end our isolation and secrecy so we can lend aid to the mortals that still fight this creature. I therefore open the floor to him so we can hear his case.’’
As he went back to his seat, The Doctor stood up. It was time to speak and hope that the council listened to what he had to say.
Moving to the podium he cleared his throat as the gaze of every Time Colt in the room fell on him, above the sphere shifted once again and The Doctors face appeared on its surface.
‘’Esteemed Colts and Mares we are a powerful race, one that has risen far above the others on Equis. Before the three tribes of ponykind ever existed we were creating fire from our hooftips, while the Griffins warred with the Minotaur’s we were creating advanced medicines and science far beyond anything they could even conceive. We have shown the world that we are not only intelligent but resourceful to the point that we harnessed the Light of Harmony itself.’’
He paused to allow his little bit of ego stroking take effect.
‘’However, while we have become the masters of time and space, and taken our place as the dominant power of Equis, we are not as unassailable as we might think.’’
The sphere above shifted once again to show Discords chaos and suffering.
‘’Discord is a being created from the very thing that we oppose. His brand of chaos has caused untold suffering to every civilisation on the planet and what makes it worse, is that he is doing it all simply because he finds it amusing. No one is safe from that type of madness.’’
The sphere shifted again to show a shining silver city floating on the ocean.
‘’Marelantis. Here was a kingdom that rivalled our own, a city of technological progress the likes of which shall not be seen on this world again for thousands of years. They thought themselves safe from any threat, until Discord turned his gaze in their direction.’’
The scene changed, the city crumbled as volcanic eruptions burned through the streets, spewing what looked like red hot fudge onto its inhabitants. Many tried to run, but found their hooves stuck fast as their bodies turned to taffy. As the city’s foundation began to crumble the sea bubbled and swirled before turning into chocolate milk, which Discord supped from with a straw as he watched the city die a horribly sweet death.
The silence in the hall could have been cut with a knife. The Time Colts knew of the destruction of Marelantis, but they had simply dismissed it as the mortals toying with things they did not understand.
The Doctor resumed speaking.
‘’But Marelantis was not the only civilisation that Discord found pleasure in destroying. Paradise Estate, Avalon, Gryphalla, Flutter Valley, the list not only goes on, it gets bigger the longer we sit here content in our secrecy. Do you think that a being like that will simply stop when he has destroyed the last civilisation on Equis?’’
He firmly pointed a hoof at the frozen image of Discord on the sphere.
‘’When he has nothing left to destroy he will look for something else to amuse himself. Make no mistake he will find us eventually and then we shall suffer the same fate as those we refused to help. Then he will look to the stars for more beings to toy with and when he is finished with them he will turn his attention to the very fabric of time itself, where he will inevitably find that he is finally playing with a power that eclipses his own moments before all of reality and existence implode around him.’’
The spheres image shifted back to The Doctors face as a few worried mutters broke out among the crowd, he waited patiently for them to die down before he continued.
‘’However, that is a worst case scenario; right now we have a chance to stop him. As I have stated, we harnessed the Light of Harmony during the early years of this world’s existence.
The sphere shifted once more and displayed the shining light from atop the Time Colts Citadel.
‘’This light is the very opposite of Discords power; hope and warmth radiate in its wake, bringing others together while he drives them apart. It is this light that can defeat him for good.’’
He swept his gaze over the room; this was the part that he knew they wouldn’t like.
‘’I have studied the light and its effects for years and believe it can be harnessed into a powerful weapon that can be used against Discord.’’
The spheres image shifted once again to display five gemstones in a star formation around a sixth, much larger one.
‘’However it will require two things, the first I believe will be easy to find. The technology we use to harness the light also dilutes its power, so a being, or beings, must be found that can contain the six elements of harmony within their very soul. I have already scoured this world and believe I have found suitable candidates in the kingdom of Elysium.’’
‘’The second thing that is needed is the Light itself. Defeating a being like Discord will require an immense amount of power-‘’
‘’How much power?’’
The Doctor turned to the source of the interruption, an elderly mare in the front row.
‘’Well’’ she said. ‘’How much power will it require?’’
He took a deep breath.
‘’I believe that nothing less than the full power of the Light will defeat Discord.’’
The chamber exploded into uproar as objections and arguments flew at him in droves. Cries of ‘’lunacy’’ and ‘’suicide’’ were screamed by some of the more vocal individuals, while the plan was deemed as ‘’the end of our civilisation’’ by one of the more dramatic mares as she swooned in the front row.
The Doctor remained silent; he suspected this would be their reaction.
The chaos ended abruptly when Omega slammed his gauntleted hoof down onto the council table so hard it turned the marble underneath to powder.
‘’ORDER!’’ He boomed, and the hall was silenced.
‘’This behaviour is unacceptable! We are Time Colts! Not some half bred mortals from the backwaters of the mainland!’’
He turned to The Doctor.
‘’You have made your case Doctor now please make room for the next speaker.’’
With a bow The Doctor left the podium and returned to his seat.
‘’Well...that got rowdier than Tortuga during happy hour’’ said The Corsair as The Doctor sat down.
‘’I expected that much from them, but I’m hoping my little speech will sway a few of the more open minded individuals.’’
He looked back up at the stage and saw Omega was staring daggers at him through his helmet.
‘’I thank The Doctor for opening this debate with is usual flair’’ he said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm. ‘’Now that he has made his case, we invite another to speak for the opposite party.’’
The Doctor spied movement off to the opposite edge of the stage and was unsurprised to see that the council had gotten the only individual that could match him to give the counter argument.
He braced himself for the worst as The Master stepped up to the podium.
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is this going to be like the day of the doctor special just asking:
:
3618864 As his editor/pre reader I could state that.Things are not going that way.
(Probably...
)
3618999
thanks for the confirmation
3618864 As the author I can neither confirm nor deny these rumours.
Love your profile pic by the way.
Ah, Omega, you glorious monster. And the Corsair! Dashing rogue, you! Good to see you... ALL of you. All of Me are pleased today... Well, most of Me.
6922740 I see I made you very pleased this day.
3618999
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/23/Omega_%28The_Three_Doctors%29.jpg/220px-Omega_%28The_Three_Doctors%29.jpg
Omega is displeased at the unsurety of your answer.
6922753
Most of me agree that we are pleased. And, should ol' Maxy up there be unavailable, I can re-edit these, if you'd like. I also possess a vast store of common and obscure Doctor Who knowledge, both Old and New Who.
(Wait. did I not already edit one of these? i could swear I did... Meh.)
~ARTL
6922825 Thanks for the offer, it would help to know context to any characters or enemies I am unfamilliar with.